Transmission system with improved tone detection

ABSTRACT

In a transmission system, a signalling tone is transmitted by a transmitter to a receiver via a transmission channel. In the receiver, a tone detector detects the presence of a signalling tone. In order to improve a reliability of the tone detector, a number of correlating elements which determine a correlation value between an input signal and a reference signal are used. Absolute output signals of the correlating elements are added by an adder to derive a combined correlation signal to be used for detection.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention is related to a transmission comprising a transmitter for transmission of a tone via a transmission channel to a receiver, said receiver comprising a detector for detecting the presence of said signalling tone in the received signal.

The invention is also related to a receiver, a tone detector and a method for tone detection.

2. Discussion of the Related Art

A transmission system according to the preamble is known from the journal article "ADSI: maximising the synergy between the network and terminals" by B. Bowles in Telephony, Aug. 29, 1994.

Recently, telephone terminals provided with a display have become available. These telephone terminals are arranged to operate according to the Analogue Display Service Interface standard (ADSI). Said standard enables the transmission of data in addition to the transmission of speech signals to and from the telephone terminal.

In order to distinguish between speech and data a so called CAS-signal (CPE Alerting Signal) is transmitted by the transmitter to indicate that a data signal will be transmitted. The CAS signal is constituted by two tones, having a frequency of 2130 Hz and 2750 Hz, which are transmitted simultaneously during 80 msec. This double tone has to be detected under the presence of speech, making a reliable detection of the double tone rather difficult.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the invention is to provide a transmission system according to the preamble in which a reliable detection of a tone is possible.

Therefor the invention is characterised in that the detector comprises a correlator for deriving a combined correlation signal being representative of a combination of a plurality of correlation signals each representative of a correlation value of the received signal and one out of a plurality of phase shifted reference signals.

By deriving a combined correlation signal representative of a combination of a plurality of correlation signals of an input signal and a plurality of phase shifted reference signals, a useful correlation signal is obtained irrespective of the phase of the input signal. In addition each of the correlation signals will have a contribution to the combined correlation signal resulting in a reliable estimation of the presence of the tone to be detected.

It is observed that U.S. Pat. No. 4,216,463 discloses a tone detector in which a number of correlation signals are determined using phase shifted reference signals. In this tone detector, no combined correlation signal is derived, but only the largest correlation signal is used as output signal. There is no contribution of the correlation signals to a combined correlation signal, which will lead to a less reliable detection of the presence of a signalling tone.

An embodiment of the invention is characterised in that the correlator is arranged for deriving modified correlation signals from the correlation signals using an even function and for adding said modified correlation signals.

An even function has the property that f(x) is equal to f(-x). Examples of even functions are f(x)=x², f(x)=x⁴. A simple and effective way of combining the correlation signals is adding their absolute values. Taking the absolute value of a signal can also be regarded as an even function.

A further embodiment of the invention is characterised in that the reference signals comprise four reference signals having a mutual phase difference of π/4. The use of a correlator that derives a combined correlation signal from the input signal and four reference signals with a mutual phase difference of π/4 has been proven to be a good compromise between performance and complexity.

A further embodiment of the invention is characterised in that the detector comprises a correlator for deriving a combined correlation signal being representative of a combination of a plurality of correlation signals each representative of a correlation value of the input signal and one out of a plurality of phase shifted reference signals.

Using at least one additional correlator, being in a measuring state during measuring periods displaced with respect to the measuring period of the correlator allows the detection of a tone having an unknown arrival time. By using mutually displaced measuring periods, it can be assured that always at least one correlation means is in the measuring state during the complete interval the tone to be detected is present.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now be explained more in detail with reference to the drawings, which show in:

FIG. 1, a transmission system according to the invention;

FIG. 2, a digital embodiment of a tone detector to be used with a transmission system according to the invention;

FIG. 3, a timing diagram of several signals in the tone detector according to FIG. 2;

FIG. 4, a tone detector having four correlators for use with a transmission system according to the invention;

FIG. 5, a timing diagram of the tone detector according to FIG. 4;

FIG. 6, an alternative arrangement of the counters to be used in the tone detector according to FIG. 4;

FIG. 7, a flow diagram of a software implementation of the tone detector according to FIG. 4.

FIG. 8, a transmission system according to a still further embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 9, an alternative for the decision element 207 according to FIG. 8; and

FIG. 10, the output signals of the strength measuring devices 216 and 218 as function of the twist.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the transmission system according to FIG. 1 a signal to be transmitted is applied to a transmitter 2. The output of the transmitter 2 carries the signal to be transmitted, possibly in combination with a signalling tone. This output is coupled to a terminal 6 via a transmission channel 4. The input of the terminal 6 is connected to an input of a selector 8 and to an input of a tone detector 10.

The input of the tone detector 10 is connected to an input of a low pass filter 12. The output of the low pass filter 12 is connected to an input of the correlator comprising correlating elements 14, 16, 18 and 20. The input of the correlating element 14, 16,18,20! is connected to a first input of a multiplier 24, 26,28,30!, the output of which is connected to an integrator 32, 34, 36,38!. An output of a reference generator, carrying output signal φ₁, φ₂,φ₃, φ₄ ! is connected to a second input of the multiplier 24, 26,28,30!.

The outputs of the correlating elements 14, 16, 18 and 20, carrying the correlation signals, are constituted by the outputs of the integrators 32, 34, 36 and 40 respectively. These outputs are connected to corresponding inputs of an adder 42. The output of the adder 42 is connected to a first input of a comparator 44. A reference signal THR is applied to a second input of the comparator 44.

The output of the comparator 44 is connected to a control input of the selector 8. A telephone handset 56 and an LCD screen 58 are connected to the selector 8.

In the transmission system according to FIG. 1 the transmitted data received by the terminal 6 are applied to the telephone hand set 56 or to the (LCD) display 58 in dependence of the reception of a single signalling tone. A change over is made after the signalling tone is detected by the tone detector 10.

The received signal is filtered by the low pass filter 12 to eliminate interfering signals like noise and speech outside the frequency range corresponding to the signalling tone to be detected. In the correlating elements 14, 16, 18 and 20, the output signal of the low pass filter 12 is multiplied with a corresponding reference signal having phase φ₁,φ₂,φ₃ and φ₄. The frequency of the reference signal corresponds to the frequency of the signalling tone to be detected. The integrators 32, 43, 36 and 40 determine the integrated value of the output signal of the corresponding multiplier 24, 26, 28 and 30 respectively, and determine subsequently the absolute value of said integrated value. The output signals of the integrators 32, 34, 36 and 40 are added by the adder 42 to a combined correlation signal. A combined correlation signal substantially different from zero will be present if the input signal comprises a signalling tone with a frequency corresponding to the frequency f_(c) of the reference signal. The tolerated frequency difference depends on the measuring time used. This measuring time used is defmed by the time between two subsequent reset instants of the integrators 32 . . . 40. A finite measuring time T_(m) results in a rectangular window function applied to the output signal of the multipliers. This leads in the frequency domain to a filter function according to: ##EQU1## The transfer function according to (1) shows a main lobe having width equal to 1/T _(m), leading to a bandwidth of approximately 1/T _(m).By choosing a suitable value for the measuring time, every desired frequency resolution can be obtained. Because the measuring time T_(m) can easily be changed, the frequency resolution can easily be changed too.

By using four reference signals having a phase incrementing by π/4, always a major correlation signal is generated, irrespective of the phase of the reference tone. It can be shown that the amplitude variation of the combined correlation signal as function of the phase of the signalling tone, is not more than 10%.

The output signal of the adder 42 is compared with a threshold value THR by the comparator 44. An detection signal is generated by the comparator 44 if the combined correlation signal exceeds the threshold value, indicating the presence of a signalling tone.

It is conceivable that the correlated signals to be added are obtained by weighting the correlation signals with a factor dependent on the actual correlation value. This weighting is equivalent to performing a non linear operation on the correlation signal. Using such weighting results in a decreased influence of a correlation signal having a small magnitude, which can be corrupted by noise.

It is observed that if a double tone is used for signalling, two tone detectors, one for each tone are required. The tone detectors can have the same construction as the detector 10, but have to be designed for different tone frequencies. This can easily be done by changing the frequency of the reference signal. The double tone is regarded as present if both tone detectors indicate the presence of the corresponding tone. In the case of a double tone, the two outputs of the tone detectors are combined in an AND gate, and the output signal of the AND gate is applied to the input of the selector 8.

In the digital tone detector 10 according to FIG. 2 the input signal is applied to a low pass filter 12. The output of the low pass filter is connected to an input of a slicer 60. The output of the slicer 60 is connected to an input of the correlator constituted by the correlating elements 62, 64, 66 and 68. Said input of the correlating elements 62, 64, 66, 68 is connected to a first input of an exclusive NOR gate 70, 74, 78 and 82 respectively. Second inputs of the exclusive NOR gates 70, 74, 78 and 82 are connected to corresponding outputs of a reference signal generator 86, carrying output signals φ₁,φ₂,φ₃ and φ₄. The output of the exclusive NOR gate 70 74,78,82! is connected to an UP/DOWN control input of an up-down counter 72 76,80,84!. To each of the up-down counters 72, 76, 80 and 84 a clock signal and a reset signal are applied. The outputs of the up-down counters 72, 76, 80 and 84, each carrying an output signal corresponding to the absolute value of the count value, are connected to an input of an adder 88. The output of the adder 88 is connected to a first input of a comparator 90. A threshold signal THR is applied to a second input of the comparator 90. The output of the comparator 90 constitutes the output signal of the tone detector 10.

The input signal of the tone detector 10 is filtered by the low pass filter 12 and subsequently converted into a binary signal by the slicer 60. The output signal of the slicer 60 is compared in each of the correlating elements 62, 64, 66 and 68 to a corresponding binary reference signal generated by the reference signal generator 86. The reference signals generated by the reference signal generator have a mutual phase difference of π/4. The comparison of the output signal from the slicer 60 to the reference signals is performed by the exclusive NOR gates 70, 74, 78 and 82. The output signal of an exclusive NOR gate has a logical value "0" if both input signals have a different logical value, and has a logical value "1" if both input signals have an equal logical value.

The output signals of the respective exclusive NOR gates 70, 74, 78 and 82 control the counting direction of corresponding up-down counters 72, 76, 80 and 84. If the output signal of the slicer has the same logical value as the reference signal, the up-down counter will increase its count at every clock pulse. If the output signal of the slicer has a logical value differing from the logical level of the reference signal, the up-down counter will decrease its count at every clock pulse. If the reference signal has approximately the same phase and frequency as the output signal of the slicer, the count of the up-down counter will rapidly increase, indication a large (positive) correlation value. If the reference signal has approximately the same frequency as the output signal of the slicer 60, but is opposite in phase with respect to the output signal of the slicer 60, the count of the up-down counter will rapidly decrease, indication a large (negative) correlation value. If there is no correlation between the reference signal and the output signal of the slicer 60, the output signal of the exclusive NOR gate will more or less randomly assume the logical value "0" or "1" . This means that the up-down counter will increase and decrease its count in a random fashion, leading to an average count of zero.

The absolute values of the counts of the up-down counters 72, 76, 80 and 84 are summed periodically by the adder 88 and passed to the comparator 90 which compares the output signal of the adder 88 to a threshold value THR. After the addition of the absolute values of the counts, the up-down counters 72, 76, 80 and 84 are reset by a reset signal R.

The clock frequency is in general a multiple of the frequency of the tone to be detected. This results in an improved suppression of interfering components in the output signals of the slicer 60. If the output signal of the slicer 60 sometimes has a wrong logical value due to an interfering signal, in half of the cases a "0" is changed in a "1", and in half of the cases a "1" is changed in a "0". These errors tend to have an average value of zero if a large number of clock cycles is present per period of the reference signal.

FIG. 3 shows a number of waveforms present in the tone detector according to FIG. 2. Graph 92 shows the clock signal CLK applied to the slicer 60 and to the up-down counters 72, 76, 80 and 84. Graph 94 shows an output signal of the slicer 60. Graphs 96, 98, 100 and 102 show the reference signals φ₁,φ₂,φ₃ and φ₄. It can be seen that the frequency of the clock signal CLK is 8 times the frequency of the reference signals. As explained above, this leads to an improved suppression of interfering signals.

Graph 104 shows the output signal of the exclusive NOR gate 70. Said output signal has during most of the time a logical value "1" . In graph 104 the count of updown counter 72 is given as function of time. It can be seen that at every clock pulse of the clock signal CLK the count is incremented by 1. Before the first clock pulse the count value is equal to zero, and at the fnal clock pulse the count is increased to +9.

Graph 106 shows the output signal of the exclusive NOR gate 74. In said output signal both logical values "0" and "1" appear, but the logical value "1" dominates slightly. In graph 106 the count of up-down counter 76 is given as function of time. It can be seen that the count increases if the output signal of the exclusive NOR gate has a value "1" and that the count decreases if the value of the output signal of the NOR gate has the value "0". The count of up-down counter 76 increases with time, but less rapidly as the count of up-down counter 72. The final value is here +3.

Graph 108 shows the output signal of the exclusive NOR gate 78. The logical values "0" and "1" appear during an almost equal amount of time. This results in alternatively counting up and down by the up-down counter 80. The finl result is a count value of +1.

Graph 110 shows the output of the exclusive NOR gate 78. Here the logical value "0" dominates, resulting in counting down of the up-down counter 84 in most of the cases, resulting in a final count of -3.

If the absolute values of the final counts of the up-down counters 72, 76, 80 and 84 are added a value of 16 is found, clearly indicating the presence of the tone to be detected.

In the tone detector according to FIG. 4, an input signal is applied to a low pass filter 12. The output of the low pass filter 12 is connected to an input of a slicer 60. The output of the slicer 60 is connected to four correlators 112, 114, 116 and 118. Each of the correlators comprises four correlating elements 62, 64, 66 and 68 and an adder 88. The correlating elements in each of the correlators can be constructed in the same way as the correlating elements in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2. To each of the correlators 112, 114, 116 and 118 a corresponding reset signal R₁, R₂, R₃ and R₄ is applied. These reset signals are not applied simultaneously, but are distributed regularly in time. The output signals of the correlators 112, 114, 116 and 118 are connected to inputs of a selector 120. The output of the selector 120 is connected to a first input of a comparator 122. A threshold value THR is applied to a second input of the comparator 122. The output of the comparator 122 is the output of the tone detector 10.

The tone detector according to FIG. 4 can be used if the arrival time of the tone is not known beforehand. The tone detector comprises a number of correlators which are in the measuring state during mutually displaced measuring periods. In this way there is always at least one correlator which is in the measuring state during the presence of a signalling tone. A condition for this is that the duration of the tone does not exceed the overlap between the measuring periods of two correlators which are reset consecutively.

The selector 120 determines the content of the adder of a correlator at the end of the measuring period and passes this value to the comparator for comparison with the threshold value. Subsequently the correlator is evaluated and reset. This evaluation and resetting of the correlator is performed cyclically.

FIG. 5 shows the timing of the evaluation and resetting of the correlators in the tone detector according to FIG. 4. In graph 121 of FIG. the timing of the reset signal R₁ applied to the correlator 112 is shown. In graphs 123, 127 and 129 the timing for the reset signals R₂, R₃, and R₄ for the correlators 114, 116 and 118 is shown. From FIG. 5 it is clear that the correlators are evaluated and reset in a cyclic fashion. It can also be seen that there is always one correlator in the measuring state during the presence of a signalling tone of the duration indicated by graph 125, irrespective of the timing of the signalling tone. In general for the relation between the reset interval (or measuring period) T_(m) and the duration T_(tone) of the signalling tone to be detected can be written: ##EQU2## In (2) n is the number of correlators. From (2) it can be seen that the difference between the measuring period and the tone duration decreases if the number of correlators increases. The advantage of having a measuring time in the range of the tone duration is that the measurement is only performed if a tone is present. This results in the elimination of a noise contribution to the output signal of the correlator during absence of the tone to be detected. This leads to a more reliable detection of the signalling tone.

FIG. 6 shows an alternative implementation of the tone detector according to FIG. 2 using a multiple of correlators. The arrangement according to FIG. 4 comprises a first set of memory cells comprising memory cells 150, 158, 166 and 174, a second set of memory cells 114 comprising memory cells 152, 160, 168 and 176, a third set of memory cells 116 comprising memory cells 154, 162, 170 and 178 and a fourth set of memory cells 118 comprising memory cells 156, 164, 172 and 180. Each set of memory cells corresponds to one correlator. The arrangement comprises one set of counters 119 comprising counters 182, 184, 186 and 188. These counters are updated once per period of the clock signal CLK. The direction of the update is determined by the up/down signals generated by the exclusive NOR gates 70, 74, 78 and 82 in FIG. 2.

At the instant where the correlator 112 has to be evaluated, the following subtractions are performed: the count of the counter 182 minus the contents of memory cell 150, the count of counter 186 minus the contents of memory cell 166 and the count of counter 188 minus the contents of the memory cell 174. The absolute values of said subtractions are added and used as the correlation value. Subsequently the count of the counter 182 is copied into the memory cell 150, the count of the counter 184 is copied into memory cell 158, the count of the counter 186 is copied into the memory cell 160 and the count of the counter 188 is copied into the memory cell 174. This copy operation corresponds to the resetting at the instant associated with R₁ of the set of counters 112 in FIG. 4. It is observed that the counters 182, 184, 186 and 188 in the set of counters 119 are never reset. The same is done with the set of counters 112, 116 and 118 at instants associated with the reset signals R₂, R₃ and R₄ respectively. The advantage of this way of processing is a reduction of the amount of computational complexity, in exchange to somewhat increased memory requirements.

In the flow diagram according to FIG. 7, the inscriptions of the blocks have the following meaning:

    ______________________________________                                         No.  INSCRIPT      MEANING                                                     ______________________________________                                         130  INIT          All used variables are set to their                                            initial value.                                              132  TAKE SAMPLE   A sample of the sliced input signal is                                         taken.                                                      133  ∀.sub.i {(S ⊕ REF.sub.i)}                                                     The exclusive NOR operation is                                                 performed on the sliced input signal                                           and all i reference signal.                                 136  ADAPT COUNTERS                                                                               The counters are adapted in response                                           to the result of the exclusive NOR                                             operations.                                                 138  FINISHED ?    It is checked whether a correlator                                             has been active for the prescribed                                             measuring time.                                             140  ADD |COUNTERS|                                                             The sum of the counters in the correlator                                      that has to be evaluated is calculated.                     142  SUM > THR ?   Is the sum of the absolute value of the                                        counts larger than THR ?                                    144  OUTPUT "TONE" An indication of the presence of the tone                                      to be detected is presented at the output                                      of the detector.                                            146  RESET         Reset all counters of the correlator                                           just evaluated.                                             147  INC SCTR      Increment sample counter SCTR.                              148  RESET SCTR    Reset sample counter SCTR.                                  149  SELECT        Select next correlator to be evaluated.                     ______________________________________                                    

In the program according to the flow diagram in FIG. 7 a number of counters equal to the number of reference signals is used in each correlator. These counters are all set to zero in instruction 130. In instruction 132 the exclusive NOR value of all reference signals and the sliced input signal is calculated, resulting in a number of exclusive NOR values equal to the number of reference signals. In instruction 136 all counters are adapted in response to the calculated exclusive NOR value. In each correlator the counters associated with exclusive NOR value with logical value "0" are decremented, and the counters associated with exclusive NOR value with logical value "1" are incremented.

In instruction 138 it is checked whether there has a correlator to be evaluated, due to expiration of the measuring time. This check is performed by checking the value of a sample counter SCTR. If this counter has reached a predetermined value a correlator has to be evaluated.

In instruction 140 the absolute values of the counts of the counters of the correlator to be evaluated are added. In instruction 142 it is checked whether this sum exceeds a threshold value THR. If the sum exceeds the threshold value an indication of the presence of the tone to be detected is presented at the output of the detector in instruction 144. In instruction 146 all counters of the correlator just evaluated are reset, and in instruction 148 the sample counter SCTR is reset. In instruction 149 the next correlator to be evaluated is selected. This selection is done in such a way that all correlators are evaluated cyclically. The correlators are allowed to run a predetermined number of samples before they are evaluated again.

If it is determined in instruction 138 that no evaluation of a correlator has to be performed yet, the sample counter SCTR is incremented in instruction 147. After finishing instruction 147 or instruction 149 the program jumps to instruction 132 to take the next sample of the input signal.

To increase the processing speed of the program discussed, it is possible to transfer in instruction 140 the counter values to be evaluated to additional variables and to continue at instruction 146. For the evaluation of the values in the additional variables now a complete measuring period of one correlator is available. By using this modification the sample rate can be increased substantially, or the processing power of the processor to be used can be decreased accordingly.

The tone detector according to the invention is very suitable to be implemented in software for a programmable processor. The parameters of the tone detector (tone frequency, frequency resolution) can very easily be changed by altering only the value of a few constants. The result is a versatile, reliable tone detector with a low implementation complexity.

In the transmission system according to FIG. 8, a signal to be transmitted is applied to a transmitter 202. The output of the transmitter 202 carries the signal to be transmitted, possibly in combination with a signalling tone. This output is coupled to a terminal 206 via a transmission channel 204. The input of the terminal 206 is connected to an input of a selector 208 and to an input of a tone detector 210.

The input of the tone detector 210 is connected to an input of a low pass filter 212. The output of the low pass filter 212 is connected to an AGC circuit 214. The output of the AGC circuit 214 is connected to an input of a strength measuring means 215. The input of the strength measuring means 215 is connected to a first input of a first tone strength measuring device 216 and to an input of a second tone strength measuring device 218.

The output of the first tone strength measuring device 216 is connected to a first input of a divider 220. A signal MAX₁, representing the maximum value of the output signal of the strength measuring device 216, is connected to a second input of the divider 220.

The output of the second tone strength measuring device 218 is connected to a first input of a divider 222. A signal MAX₂, representing the maximum value of the output signal of the strength measuring device 218, is connected to a second input of the divider 222.

The output of the divider 220 is connected to a first input of the decision means 227. The first input of the decision means 227 is connected to a first input of a comparator 211 and to a first input of an adder 223. The output of the divider 22 is connected to a second input of the decision means 227. The second input of the decision means 227 is connected to a first input of a comparator 229 and to a second input of an adder 223. The output of the adder 223 is connected to a first input of a comparator 225. A first reference signal TH₁ is applied to a second input of the comparator 211 and to a second input of the comparator 229. A second reference signal TH₂ is applied to a second input of the comparator 226.

An output of the comparator 211, the comparator 225 and the comparator 229 are connected to a corresponding input of an AND gate 213. The output of the AND gate 213 is connected to a control input of the selector 228. A telephone handset and an LCD screen 258 are connected to the selector 228.

The transmission system according to FIG. 8, is especially arranged for dealing with dual tone signals having a difference in strength, also called twist. In the transmission system according to FIG. 8 the data to be transmitted, is transmitted by the transmitter 202 via the transmission medium 204 to the terminal 206. In the terminal 206 the transmitted data received by the terminal 206 is applied to the telephone hand set 256 or to the (LCD) display 258 in dependence of the reception of two signalling tones. A change over is made after the signalling tone signals are detected by the tone detector 210.

The received signal is filtered by the low pass filter 212 to eliminate interfering signals like noise and speech outside the frequency range corresponding to the signalling tone to be detected. The AGC circuit provides an output signal having a constant output power to the input of the tone strength measuring devices 216 and 218.

The strength measuring device 216 is arranged for generating a strength measure for the first tone, and the strength measuring device 218 is arranged for generating a strength measure for the second tone. The strength measuring devices 216 and 218 comprise correlators according to FIG. 1, FIG. 2, FIG. 4 or FIG. 6 and 7. the In the case of a CAS signal used in the above mentioned ADSI standard, the first tone has a frequency of 2130 Hz and the second tone has a frequency of 2750 Hz. The output signal of the tone strength measuring device 216 is normalised by the divider 220 with respect to the maximum possible output signal of said tone strength measuring device 216. This means that the output of the divider 220 varies between 0 and a predetermined constant value. This normalisation is done in order to obtain strength measures having the same range for both tone signals irrespective of (frequency determined) differences between the strength signals from the strength measuring devices 216 and 218.

At the output of the adder 223, a combined strength measure is available. The comparator 225 compares the combined strength measure with the reference value TH₂. The comparators 227 and 231 compare the strength measures at the outputs of the dividers 220 and 222 respectively with the reference value TH₁. If it is assumed that the maximum output signal of the dividers 220 and 222 is equal to 221, suitable values for the threshold value TH₁ and TH₂ are 0.24 and 0.8 respectively. Only if all three threshold values are exceeded, the tone pair is regarded as present by the AND gate 213, resulting in an improved reliability of the decision in the case that the two tone signals differ in strength.

It is observed that it is possible to dispense with the comparators 211 and 229. This will lead to less accurate limits set on the required value of the individual strength measures, but there is still the advantage of an improved reliability of the detection due to the higher value of TH₂.

In the decision circuit 227 according to FIG. 9, the first input is connected to a first input of a comparator 227 and to a first input of a comparator 229. A second input of the decision circuit 227 is connected to a first input of a comparator 231 and to a first input of a comparator 233. A first reference signal TH₁ is applied to a second input of the comparator 227 and to a second input of the comparator 233. A third reference signal TH₃ is applied to a second input of the comparator 229 and to a second input of the comparator 231.

The output of the comparator 227 is connected to a first input of an AND gate 235 and the output of the comparator 231 is connected to a second input of the AND gate 235. The output of the comparator 229 is connected to a first input of an AND gate 237 and the output of the comparator 231 is connected to a second input of the AND gate 237. The output of the AND gate 235 is connected to a first input of an OR gate 239, and the output of the AND gate 237 is connected to a second input of the OR gate 239. The output of the OR gate 239 constitutes the output of the decision means 227.

In the decision circuit according to FIG. 9 it is assumed that the reference value TH₁ is substantially smaller than TH₃. Possible values of TH₁ and TH₃ are 0.2 and 0.4-0.5 respectively. The output of the AND gate 235 will be "1" if and only if the normalised strength measure U₁₆ exceeds TH₁ and the normalised strength measure U₁₈ exceeds TH₃. The output of the AND gate 237 will be "1" if and only if the normalised strength measure U₁₈ exceeds TH₁ and the normalised strength measure U₁₆ exceeds TH₃. This means that the output of one of the AND gates 235 or 237 is "1" if the strength of one of the tone signals exceeds a value 0.8 and the other one exceeds 0.2. Consequently the output of the OR gate 239 will be "1" ft under these conditions. The reliability of the detection of the tone pair has substantially increased with respect to the prior art device, because in the prior art device it was necessary to set the threshold value for both tone signals on the same low level (e.g. 0.2). It is observed that in case the tone pair is detected by the decision circuit according to FIG. 9, the combined tone strength measure is larger than 1. Consequently the decision means according to FIG. 9 operates on basis of the combined strength measure without actually calculating it.

FIG. 10 shows the first normalised strength signal U₂₀, the second normalised output strength signal U₂₂ and the sum of the first and the second normalised strength signals. These normalised strength signals are calculated by the divider 220, the divider 222 and the adder 223 respectively. From FIG. 10 it can be seen that in the case of a zero twist value the normalised strength signals U₂₀ and U₂₂ both have a value of 0.64. The sum of these signals is 1.32. A suitable threshold value TH₂ is 0.8, and a suitable threshold value TH₁ is 0.24. With these choice a twist of 6 dB is tolerated by the tone detector. If only the combined threshold signal is compared with a reference value, this reference value has to be larger than 1, in order to prevent detection of a single tone as the combination of tone signals. A suitable choice could be a value of 1.2. 

We claim:
 1. A transmission sytsem comprising a transmitter for transmitter for transmission of a tone via a transmission channel to a receiver, said receiver comprising a detector for detecting a presence of the tone ina received signal, wherein the detector comprises a correlator for deriving a combined correlation signal representative of a combination of a plurality of correlation signals each representative of a correlation value of the received signal and a selected one of a plurality of phase shifted reference signals.
 2. The transmission system according to claim 1, wherein the correlator comprises means for deriving modified correlation signals from the correlation signals using an even function and for adding the modified correlation signals.
 3. The transmission system according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of reference signals comprise at least three reference signals.
 4. The transmission system according to claim 3, wherein the reference signals comprise four reference signals having a mutual phase difference of II/4.
 5. The transmission system according to claim 4, wherein the detector further comprises at least one additional correlator, and wherein the correlator and the additional correlator have measuring periods mutually displaced in time.
 6. The transmission system according to claim 4, wherein the detector further comprises means for converting the received signal into a binary input signal, wherein the correlator comprises comparator means for deriving a comparison signal by comparing a logical value of the binary input signal to a logical value of a binary reference signal, wherein the correlator further comprises an accumulator and means for increasing or decreasing a value in the accumulator in dependence on a value of the comparison signal.
 7. The transmission system according to claim 6, wherein the correlator determines the value of the comparison signsl at least twice per period of the reference signal.
 8. The transmission system according to claim 1, wherein the detector further comprises at least one additional correlator, and wherein the correlator and the additional correlator have measuring periods mutually displaced in time.
 9. The transmission system according to claim 8, wherein the detector further comprises means for converting the received signal into a binary input signal, wherein the correlator comprises comparator means for deriving a comparison signal by comparing a logical value of the binary input signal to a logical value of a binary reference signal, wherein the correlator further comprises an accumulator and means for increasing or decreasing a value in the accumulator in dependence on a value of the comparison signal.
 10. The transmission system according to claim 9, wherein the correlator determines the value of the comparison signal at least twice per period of the reference signal.
 11. The transmission system according to claim 3, wherein the detector further comprises at least one additional correlator, and wherein the correlator and the additional correlator have measuring periods mutually displaced in time.
 12. The transmission system according to claim 3, wherein the detector further comprises means for converting the received signal into a binary input signal, wherein the correlator comprises comparator means for deriving a comparison signal by comparing a logical value of the binary input signal to a logical value of a binary reference signal, wherein the correlator further comprises an accumulator and means for increasing or decreasing a value in the accumulator in dependence on a value of the comparison signal.
 13. The transmission system according to claim 12, wherein the correlator determines the value of the comparison signal at least twice per period of the reference signal.
 14. The transmission system according to claim 2, wherein the plurality of reference signals comprise at least three reference signals.
 15. The transmission system according to claim 14, wherein the reference signals comprise four reference signals having a mutual phase difference of II/4.
 16. The transmission system according to claim 15, wherein the detector further comprises at least one additional correlator, and wherein the correlator and the additional correlator have measuring periods mutually displaced in time.
 17. The transmission system according to claim 14, wherein the detector further comprises at least one additional correlator, and wherein the correlator and the additional correlator have measuring periods mutually displaced in time.
 18. The transmission system according to claim 2, wherein the detector further comprises at least one additional correlator, and wherein the correlator and the additional correlator have measuring periods mutually displaced in time.
 19. The transmission system according to claim 2, wherein the detector further comprises means for converting the received signal into a binary input signal, wherein the correlator comprises comparator means for deriving a comparison signal by comparing a logical value of the binary input signal to a logical value of a binary reference signal, wherein the correlator further comprises an accumulator and means for increasing or decreasing a value in the accumulator in dependence on a value of the comparison signal.
 20. The transmission system according to claim 19, wherein the correlator determines the value of the comparison signal at least twice per period of the reference signal.
 21. The transmission system according to claim 1, wherein the detector further comprises means for converting the received signal into a binary input signal, wherein the correlator comprises comparator means for deriving a comparison signal by comparing a logical value of the binary input signal to a logical value of a binary reference signal, wherein the correlator further comprises an accumulator and means for increasing or decreasing a value in the accumulator in dependence on a value of the comparison signal.
 22. The transmission system according to claim 21, wherein the correlator determines the value of the comparison signal at least twice per period of the reference signal.
 23. A terminal comprising a detector for detecting a presence of a tone in a received signal, said detector comprising a correlator for deriving a combined correlation signal representative of a combination of a plurality of correlation signals each representative of a correlation value of the received signal and a selected one of a plurality of phase shifted reference signals.
 24. The terminal according to claim 23, wherein said detector further comprises an additional correlator, and wherein the correlator and the additional correlator have measuring periods mutually displaced in time.
 25. A detector for detecting a presence of a tone in an input signal, said detector comprising a correlator for deriving a combined correlation signal representative of a combination of a plurality of correlation signals each representative of a correlation value of the input signal and a selected one of a plurality of phase shifted reference signals.
 26. The detector according to claim 25, further comprising at least one additional correlator, wherein the correlator and the additional correlator have measuring periods mutually displaced in time.
 27. The detector according to claim 25, further comprising means for converting the input signal into a binary input signal, wherein the correlator further comprises comparator means for deriving a comparison signal by comparing a logical value of binary input signal to a logical value of a binary reference signal, wherein the correlator further comprises an accumulator and means for increasing or decreasing a value in the accumulator in dependence on a value of the comparison signal.
 28. The detector according to claim 27, wherein the correlator determines the value of the comparison signal at least twice per period of the reference signal.
 29. The detector according to claim 26, further comprising means for converting the input signal into a binary input signal, wherein the correlator further comprises comparator means for deriving a comparison signal by comparing a logical value of the binary input signal to a logical value of a binary reference signal, wherein the correlator further comprises an accumulator and means for increasing or decreasing a value in the accumulator in dependence on a value of the comparison signal.
 30. The detector according to claim 29, wherein the correlator determines the value of the comparison signal at least twice per period of the reference signal.
 31. A method for detecting a presence of a tone in an input signal, said method comprising deriving a combined correlation signal representative of a combination of a plurality of correlation signals each representative of a correlation value of the input signal and a selected one of a plurality of phase shifted reference signals. 